It’s clear that, with the pandemic dragging on and its threat reduced, most people just want to forget about COVID-19.

But for the millions of Americans who wake up every morning suffering from symptoms left over from a long-ago infection, that’s impossible.

So even as COVID fades as a matter of daily concern in most people’s lives, the federal government doesn’t get the same luxury. Long COVID desperately needs its attention.

As many as one-quarter of the people who have had COVID-19 have been left with long COVID – the continuation of any number of symptoms for months, even years after the initial illness.

In its worst cases, long COVID is debilitating. At very least, it’s robbing people of their quality of life, costing the health care system dearly, and putting stress on an already-strained labor force.

As of now, however, there is no standardized definition of long COVID, nor any agreed-upon treatment. Data reporting on the illness has been imprecise, and the studies done thus far have not been able to tell doctors what they need to know. At the few treatment clinics that are up and running, there are often long waits for appointments.

That is not going to cut it. A report from the Brookings Institute out this week estimates that around 16 million working-age Americans have long COVID, about 8 percent of the population age 18 to 65.

Though the majority of them exhibit only minor symptoms, it’s still a drag, holding them back from living their lives to the fullest.

For the rest – for those with inescapable fatigue, shortness of breath, brain fog and sleep trouble, to name a few symptoms – it is devastating, leaving them unable to resume their prior lives in any recognizable way.

Studies estimate that as many as a fifth to a quarter of those with long COVID are unable to work at all, perhaps as many as 4 million Americans – or about 2 percent of the entire workforce. Think about that next time you see a “Help Wanted” sign.

And it won’t stop there. Still, there are more than 90,000 new COVID cases being reported every day. Even if only a very small percentage of those end up with long COVID, it will be felt throughout our economy as it taxes the health care system and reduces the workforce.

The presence of long COVID is not shocking or out of left field. Viral infections often lead to debilitating, long-term conditions, and similar illnesses have appeared in the years following pandemics in the past. There is no excuse not to be ready.

Yet, so far, relatively little funding has been put into studying long COVID. Research is necessary to differentiate between all the ways that the illness presents itself, and to find if these different types require different approaches for prevention and treatment. That information needs to be disseminated quickly and clearly to doctors at COVID clinics as well as primary care physicians.

Long COVID is also the poster child for the need for universal access to health care, so that Americans can get the illness recognized and treated, as well as sick leave and disability insurance.

The people who have been pushing for years for those initiatives say they will help keep Americans, and our economy, healthy and productive. Long COVID is proving their point.